Frank Converse Movies
Tall (6'2"), sandy-haired American leading man Frank Converse studied at Carnegie Tech before launching his acting career with stage, commercial and soap-opera assignments. Converse became a star by way of a TV series that literally died before it was born. Thirteen episodes of Coronet Blue, in which Converse played an amnesiac pursued by mysterious assassins, were filmed in 1965, then shelved when no room could be cleared on CBS' fall schedule. Most of these episodes were telecast as a 1967 summer replacement series, sparking an intensely loyal fan following for Converse; by that time, however, he was committed to the weekly cop series NYPD and could not continue with Coronet Blue, thus his fans never did find out who his character really was or why he was being chased all over the country. Active in all aspects of entertainment, Frank Converse has been most visible on television: he starred on the prime time series Movin' On (1974-75), The Family Tree (1983), Dolphin Cove (1989), and for several years was a regular on the ABC daytime drama One Life to Live. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Two Irish insurgents are assigned the task of guarding a pair of captured British soldiers in this dramatic adaptation of Frank O' Connor's prizewinning story starring Frank Converse, Estelle Parsons, and Nesbitt Blaisdell. As the foursome attempt to maintain peaceful relations in the farmhouse of a lively widow, the prospect of reprisals for any harm that comes to the captive soldiers looms large on the conscience of their Irish captor Barney Callahan (Converse) during pleasant nights of dancing, card games, and amiable debates about their respective religions and countries. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Richard Dreyfuss stars in this story about an Irish tenement in the 1920's that suffers a stir when a soft spoken poet who lives there is suspected of being an IRA gunman. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide
John Sturges directed this sequel to his Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, which is more of a melancholy character study than an action Western. The Edward Anhalt screenplay (based on Douglas D. Martin's Tombstone's Epitaph) traces Wyatt Earp's (James Garner) moral decline from a lawman with high ideals to a mean-spirited vigilante bent on personal revenge. Ironically, Doc Holliday (Jason Robards), an admitted lawless gambler, reacts to Earp's vengeful turnabout by becoming the moral force that Earp has rejected. When Earp's brothers are killed by goons employed by Ike Clanton (Robert Ryan), Earp becomes obsessed with vengeance and organizes a posse to track down the killers. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Garner, Jason Robards, Jr., (more)
- 1967
Otto Preminger directed this star-studded adaptation of K.B. Gliden's novel about racial prejudice and emotional unrest in the Deep South. Henry Warren (Michael Caine) is a land owner obsessed with buying up all available land in a Georgia farming town. However, two parcels of land have escaped his reach, and he's determined to get them. The Scotts, an African-American family, own one of the lots that Henry is after; the matriarch of the family, Rose (Beah Richards), used to work as a servant for the family of Henry's wife, Julie Ann (Jane Fonda), so Henry sends Julie Ann to talk with her. However, not only doesn't Rose agree to sell, she gets so upset that she dies of a heart attack, and soon her headstrong son Reeve (Robert Hooks) is the owner of the land. Reeve refuses all of Henry's offers to sell out, and he even stands up to a racist lynch mob that tries to ransack his farm; when Henry attempts to prove that Reeve holds no legal deed to the property, Vivian Thurlow (Diahann Carroll), the town's black schoolmarm, is able to provide the documentation that the Scotts do indeed own their land. Meanwhile, Henry is also trying to buy some property farmed by Rod McDowell (John Phillip Law) and his wife Lou (Faye Dunnaway), a poor white couple who are Henry's cousins. The McDowell farm adjoins that owned by the Scotts, so Reeve and Rod agree to join forces against Henry, which leads to violent reprisals against them. While set in Georgia, Hurry Sundown was actually shot on location in Louisiana; it was the first film shot in the South with an integrated cast and crew, leading the producers to demand protection from State Troopers after members of the company received death threats. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Caine, Jane Fonda, (more)
- 1970
An uncharacteristic Bing Crosby plays Dr. Cook, a small town physician with a little something to hide. Outwardly gentle and compassionate, Cook is less politely inclined to those in his Vermont community whom he regards as disposable. When a young man (Frank Converse) whom Cook has raised as a son returns to the community, he begins to suspect that his father-figure is keeping secrets. The young man learns that the good Doctor has been murdering those patients whom he regards as useless, and then burying the victims in his meticulously kept garden. Made for TV, Dr. Cook's Garden was adapted from a Broadway play by Ira Levin, in which Burl Ives starred in the title role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1971
Season Seven of The F.B.I. begins as federal agents Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) and Colby (William Reynolds) set a trap for the extortionist. Serving as bait is pro football player Paul Talbot (Frank Converse), who cannot figure out who is sending him threatening messages, nor why. One thing is certain, however: Unless the Feds can locate Talbot's taunting tormentor, there's going to be a genuine "Sudden Death" during a championship game. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1971
A Tattered Web starts out at a high level of tension which seldom flags during its lean 74 minutes. Lloyd Bridges stars as a police detective who finds out that his son-in-law Frank Converse is cheating on his daughter Sallie Shockley. Catching up with the "other woman," Bridges accidentally kills her. After his initial panic has subsided, the detective rearranges the evidence, pinning the murder on a harmless drunk. Avoiding two-dimensionality, A Tattered Web is told largely from the murderer's point of view; we don't like the man, but we can understand him. Made for television, the film first aired September 24, 1971. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1972
Sometimes it seems as though all the character roles in Canadian films have been played by Al Waxman, Chris Wiggins and Gordon Pinsent. It is Pinsent who functions as both star and coscripter of the modest character study Rowdyman. He plays a roustabout, libinous middle-ager who accidently causes the death of an old friend. At first refusing to allow this tragedy to affect him, Pinsent slowly accepts the fact that he needs to make a general housecleaning of his life. While many independent Canadian films tend to trot out the usual Ontario and Alberta locations, Rowdyman makes excellent use of the underexploited vistas of Newfoundland. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1972
Inspector Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) dispatches his operatives to the Oregon wilderness, where a gang of jewel thieves have converged after pulling off their latest heist. Seeking an escape route, the thieves make a desperate effort to navigate the treacherous Rogue River rapids--and if this ordeal doesn't kill them, their mutual animosity will finish the job. This episode was filmed on location near Grant Pass, Oregon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1973
Rosalind is played by Pamela Payton-Wright in this "ghost in the mansion" hair-raiser. The members of an old-money family find themselves targeted by an unfriendly spirit. Not content with mere chain-rattling, this wrathful wraith contrives to have selected members of the family pop up seriously dead. Is it a genuine "haunt," or a plot to gain the family's sizeable legacy? When Haunting of Rosalind was first telecast on ABC's Wide World Mystery in 1973, little attention was paid to the videotaped drama's third-billed supporting actress: Susan Sarandon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
In Tandem was the pilot film for the TV series Movin' On, and has since borne that title in syndication. Created by Barry Weitz and Philip D'Antoni, the concept was an update of the obscure U.S./Canadian TV weekly Cannonball, with a bit of Route 66 and The Streets of San Francisco thrown in. Claude Akins stars as hard-bitten, self-made gypsy driver Sonny Pruett, who enters into a business partnership with a much-younger trucker, law school graduate Will Chandler (Frank Converse). Despite their ideological differences, Sonny and Will work together as one to ship a consignment of oranges past a group of hostile citrus growers. In Tandem first aired May 8, 1974, on NBC; the Movin' On series proper was seen over the same network from September 12, 1974, through September 14, 1976. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
D.H. Lawrence's autobiographical drama about his parents, The Widowing of Mrs. Holroyd, is performed in this 1974 production released by the Broadway Theatre Archive. The play involves a difficult marriage between a rough coal miner and his elegant wife in England right before WWI. Starring Geraldine Fitzgerald, Joyce Ebert, and Rex Robbins. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- 1977
In this made-for-TV thriller, a group of tourists aboard a cruise ship must be quarantined after they become afflicted with a lethal virus. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- 1977
After a four-episode tryout as a component of the NBC Sunday Mystery Movie anthology, Quincy, M.E. launched its regular weekly run with this episode, originally telecast as a two-hour special but since re-edited for syndication as two one-hour installments. In Part One, we find LA County medical examiner Quincy (Jack Klugman) attending a pathologists' convention at Lake Tahoe in the company of his girlfriend Lee (Lynette Mettey) and his pal Danny (Val Bisoglio). No sooner has Quincy arrived than a mysterious illness begins spreading through a Lake Tahoe casino, claiming several lives. Asked to investigate this apparent epidemic, Quincy runs up against resistance from the anxious casino manager (Van Johnson), who is worried that news of the medical disaster will destroy his business. (Incidentally, this episode appeared not long after a medical crisis caused panic at an American Legion convention, thereby earning the designation "Legionnaire's Disease".) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1977
In the conclusion of Quincy, M.E.'s two-part Season Two opener (originally telecast as a single two-hour episode), Quincy (Jack Klugman) continues to look for the source of a mysterious epidemic that has caused several deaths at a pathologist's convention in a Lake Tahoe casino. The casino's customers and employees have now been quarantined, and panic has started to spread. This places Quincy in the unenviable position of preventing a riot--to say nothing of halting the epidemic before it expands into the rest of Nevada. Also, there's a strong possibility that the rampaging illness was far from "natural", and that there's a criminal conspiracy afoot. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1978
This delightfully bad made-for-TV movie throws together an assortment of television stalwarts and movie has-beens for what is essentially a horror version of The Love Boat. The plot involves a vacation cruise in the Gulf of Mexico, during which some of the passengers find an ancient Egyptian sarcophagus in an underwater cavern. Instead of "wasting time" explaining what Egyptian ruins are doing so far from Northern Africa, the writers decide to make things easy by making the coffin's occupant none other than the Devil himself. This stirs things up a bit for the hapless vacationers -- particularly for the fire-and-brimstone preacher (John Forsythe) who happens to be aboard. Cheap, campy, and topped off with a ridiculous ending, the film, at least, is not as boring as most TV movies of the sort. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- 1978
This made-for-TV movie begins in 1975, when Technical Sergeant Leonard Matlovich (Brad Dourif), a highly decorated Vietnam veteran, faces a court-martial and possible discharge. Matlovich's "offense:" He is an admitted homosexual. Knowing full well that the military has a long-standing ban on gays, Matlovich deliberately makes public his sexual preferences in order to test the ban in court. John McGreevey's teleplay is based on actual court transcripts, with no deviations from the facts at hand. Sergeant Matlovich vs. the U.S. Air Force was originally telecast August 21, 1978. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1979
A very young Trini Alvarado stars in this touching and sometimes amusing ABC Afterschool Special. The new kid in her high school, Dena McKain (Alvarado) is initially shunned by her classmates. Suddenly, however, she becomes the most popular kid in school and is showered with attention. Any other girl would be thrilled by this metamorphosis, but a wary Dena has been through all this before: It seems that the kids have just discovered that Dena's dad is the famous movie star Hal McKain (Frank Converse). This time around, will our heroine find out who her true friends are, or is she in for another crushing disappointment? ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Trini Alvarado, Frank Converse, (more)
- 1979
- PG
An airline pilot wages a desperate battle against the alcoholism that is destroying his life and risking the lives of others in this drama. The film is also known as Danger in the Skies. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1980
The title of this made-for-TV biopic is faintly risible: is there anything about Marilyn Monroe that we don't know by now? Pleasingly enough, the story is told in a straightforward, nonexploitive manner (the affair with JFK warrants no more than a throwaway line). Emmy-nominated Catherine Hicks plays Marilyn, nee Norma Jean Baker. We follow her progress from orphanages and foster homes to her first 20th Century-Fox contract at age 20. Considered "washed up" before her career has gotten off the ground, Marilyn is rescued both professionally and emotionally by her agent/lover Johnny Hyde (Richard Basehart). She rises to full stardom and is the center of attention of two "ideal" marriages, first to baseball player Joe DiMaggio, then to Arthur Miller (neither of whom are depicted on screen). But Marilyn remains a lonely, tragic figure, a victim as much of her own demons as of Hollywood's exploitation mill. Based loosely on Norman Mailer's highly suspect biography of the actress, Marilyn: The Untold Story premiered on September 28, 1980. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The Bushido Blade is set in 19th century Japan, at the time of American Commodore Matthew Perry's opening up of the ancient oriental nation. As played by Richard Boone (in his last film), Perry is a megalomaniac mercenary who makes Custer look like a humanitarian. The plot involves Perry's efforts to locate a sacred sword. The rest of the cast includes James Earl Jones, Frank Converse, and Toshiro Mifune. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Boone, Sonny Chiba, (more)
- 1981
Helen Hunt is outstanding as the real-life Kathy Miller, a 13-year-old Arizona athlete and honor student whose world came screeching to halt in 1977. Struck by a car on a lonely highway, Kathy spends the next ten weeks in a coma. Upon awakening, she is unable to walk, talk, read or write: she has sustained massive brain damage and her leg has been mutilated. The experts say "No hope", but neither Kathy nor her parents (Sharon Gless, Frank Converse) will settle for that diagnosis. After eight torturous months of physical and mental therapy, Kathy Miller is entered in a 6-mile race -- the first of many stepping stones to her ultimate status as a world champion. Made for television, The Miracle of Kathy Miller was written with an emphasis on optimism and a minimum of sentimental gush by Mel and Ethel Brez. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Helen Hunt, Sharon Gless, (more)
- 1981
A pair of youngsters investigate the mysterious disappearance of a local fisherman on the title island in this drama. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1981
- PG
First released in 1981 as Sneakers, this feeble story about a young teen trying to succeed on the amateur tennis tour is heavy on tennis sequences and light on content, storyline, and character development. The heroine Karen (Carling Bassett) is an unseeded, talented player snubbed by her peers because her mother (Susan Anton) is a Las Vegas showgirl. Karen's eventual friend, the top-seeded Missy (Shawn Foltz) has a tough-as-nails mom (Jessica Walter), so both young teens have their own personal crosses to bear. The biggest test of their friendship will come when they face off in the finals, like it or not. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Susan Anton, Frank Converse, (more)
- 1985
Magnum (Tom Selleck) rescues a woman named Lauren Henderson (Cynthia Sikes) from drowning herself. Lauren claims that she has witnessed a murder committed by her husband Sam (Frank Converse), a powerful industrialist. As Magnum finds himself falling in love with the unfortunate woman, he is slowly but surely drawn into a sinister conspiracy. What's really going on here--and how does Sam's secretary Cindy (Kit McDonough) have to do with all the intrigue? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
